


Happy Birthday Mate

by NightlightStories



Category: The 1975 (Band)
Genre: Birthday Party, Confusion, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27166357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightlightStories/pseuds/NightlightStories
Summary: It's Matty's 18th birthday and George got him a guitar. While the party is going on downstairs, the two meet in the bathroom and realise that it might not be so easy to hide their feelings from each other.
Relationships: George Daniel/Matthew Healy
Kudos: 12





	Happy Birthday Mate

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys. I wanted to write a short and sweet story about these two. It's really innocent but since they talk about weed, I marked it as teen and up. It's been a while since I wrote this but I hope you like it anyway.  
> Constructive criticism is always welcomed, especially as I am just starting to post on this forum :)  
> Enjoy!

George drove the van into the driveway and killed the engine. He nervously ran his fingers through his hair and self-consciously checked his appearance in the rear-view mirror. Matty’s 18th birthday party would only start a few hours from now, but he had decided to arrive early to give him his present before everyone else would arrive and every reaction would be tainted by alcohol. He rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for his best friend to open the door for him. After they had finished school this summer, they had been hanging out more regularly than before to write songs and just jam together as a band with Ross and Adam, but Matty still remained special to him. That’s why he got him a new guitar for his birthday. Technically speaking neither of them could afford to buy it, but Matty fell in love with it at first sight and George had secretly taken on a summer job to get it for his birthday. He really hoped Matty would appreciate it.

The door opened and Matty looked at him with a surprised expression on his handsome face. ‘George, the party is in two hours, mate. What are you doing here?’ he asked confusedly. ‘I know, man, just wanted to come earlier to hang for a bit, maybe help you set stuff up for later. I come bearing gifts as well, so don’t complain!’ George answered and Matty’s expression changed into a happy smile. ‘Come on in then’ he said, already climbing up the stairs to his bedroom.

When they arrived on top of the steps and were about to enter Matty’s room, he stopped for a second to remember the last time he had been here.

It was last week, when they were all hanging out in Matty’s room. After the other two had left, Matty had gotten out some weed and they had smoked until thoughts got hazy and everything felt lighter than usual. With all his boredom and bad thoughts floating as a cloud under the roof of the room, he allowed himself for the first time in a long time to acknowledge that his friend was beautiful. There was an indescribable grace in his movements as he smoked another blunt. But the next day when he was sober again, he realised that these thoughts had consequences. Therefore, he was determined to suppress them for as long as possible. Still he had remembered now. ‘Probably going to be harder than I thought’ George thought.

‘You coming?’ Matty asked, ‘Yeah, yeah’ George said setting himself into motion and once in the room settling down on his favourite piece of furniture in Matty’s room: a ratty old arm chair that Matty had inherited from his grandparents, but so comfortable at the same time.

He deposited his gift next to him and waited for Matty to sit down as well. When he did, George handed him his birthday gift with a flourish. As Matty ripped into the paper, George decided to sing a short ‘Happy Birthday’, while staring his best friend down, intensely hoping to see a positive reaction.

When Matty finally looked up from the guitar in his hands, he had tears welling up in his eyes and it was obvious how much he loved the present and George for getting it for him. George took pride in giving great gifts anyway, but this reaction was more than he had hoped for. “Jesus George, this is just”, Matty tried but was lost for words. Deciding that it would be best to show his appreciation otherwise, he stood up and threw his arms around his best friend, hugging him tightly. If he had been bigger the hug would have crushed George but this way he just felt save and loved. As a friend of course.

George really had to work hard to not let his feelings get the better of him, so he gently pushed Matty away to regain his composure and have a chance at burying the thoughts that invaded his head for the second time today. “How were you able to afford this, George?”, Matty mumbled into his neck. George could feel his mouth moving against his skin there, which felt nicer than it should have. He answered: “I put in some extra hours and I had already saved up some money anyway. It’s not that big of a deal, Matt” “It is though, isn’t it”, Matty told him with a hint of pathos in his voice which gave George the hint that his friend was about to get philosophical with him. He hadn’t found out yet how to stop him from rambling on and on in that state, which frankly could get a bit annoying, so George just settled down a bit more into his armchair and prepared himself for a long monologue.

Surprisingly though that didn’t happen, as Matty was keen on trying his new present out, so he settled on the bed instead and plugged in the guitar to his amp. Strumming a few chords, he got lost in a melody his brain must have concocted and George was content just watching his friend enjoy himself and listening to the sounds.

“Do you think we’re ever going to make it?”, he decided to ask Matty after a while.

Matty stopped playing and fixed his eyes on George, who played with his fingers nervously. He thought it over for a second apparently and then said: “You know, the egomaniac in me thinks we’re too good to fail, but I’m also a realist and the industry is very tough. So, I guess I don’t really know, I suppose.” George had to laugh upon this response. “Why are you laughing at me?”, Matty asked irritated and George still laughing just said: “Dunno, I thought you would just tell me that we’re amazing and that we’re going to make it no matter what, but I guess you do know how hard it’s going to be. Always kinda thought you were the carefree dreamer of the group.”

“Mh.” Matty seemed to think his response over for a while and then stood up and carefully laid the guitar on his bed coming over to where George was still sitting. He stretched his hand out and helped him up while saying: “Let’s go downstairs, I still need to prepare stuff.” George couldn’t shake the feeling that Matty was a bit hurt by their exchange but he didn’t really know what about it had bothered his friend. He decided to ignore it as he always did, until it usually blew up in his face, and helped Matty clean and set up for the party that would soon be happening in his parents’ living room. Denise and Tim never minded having people around or having parties at their place, but they were out that day anyway so they didn’t have to worry about being too crazy that night, especially because Matty’s younger brother wasn’t around either.

Later that night when the party was already in full swing and Matty was more than just a little bit tipsy, they ended up together in the bathtub sitting on opposite ends, knees touching in the middle. Matty was smoking his sixth or seventh cigarette that evening and was complaining to George about the lack of weed: “You should have brought some you know, I crave it.” “Na” George replied: “it’s no fun to be high when there’s your party going on downstairs. Would’ve just made you tired and philosophical.” “I thought that’s how you like me”, Matty grinned, finishing his fag and putting it out in the planter on the windowsill. “Haha”, George grumbled and laid back more to look up at the ceiling. He liked the closeness their position provided but it also scared him how much he had realised about his feelings for his best friend in the last few weeks. He had come to the conclusion that he probably must have fallen in love with him gradually, repressing it and that it had been waiting, until weed had made his defences sluggish and weak, to tear down that last wall. Now that he had noticed how he felt it was becoming more and more impossible with every passing moment to not think about how much he wanted to kiss him.

Matty looked at his best friend who currently had quite a pained look on his otherwise handsome face and felt compelled to ask: “You okay, George?” But instead of an explanation he just got “Yeah ’m fine” as an answer which didn’t really cut it. He kept his mouth shut though because George was allowed to keep some secrets. If it was serious, he would probably vent to Matty later anyway. So, he just scooted a little bit closer and put his hand on George’s knee to comfort him.

One or two years ago Matty had had a gigantic crush on his best friend when he had first discovered that he liked men as well as women, but after the initial stage of awkward behaviour around him it had kind of died down and was more embers now than an open flame. From time to time he would be reminded of his more than friendly feelings, but he usually just ignored the stabs into his heart when George would date a new girl or the attraction when they went swimming in the summer where he could see him lounging around shirtless.

Sometimes it was harder though, today especially. This beautiful guitar Matty wanted to have so badly; George just got it for him. And the way they were sitting now, far from the party downstairs just content with existing in the same space, made him question the unrequitedness of his feelings. But he would never know. This was something he had decided at the very beginning of his dilemma: George would never know and their friendship would be unbothered by these feelings he had.

The boy next to him, unbeknownst to Matty, was thinking very similar things. Adding to his guilt for liking Matty more than just a friend and withholding that information from him, he also felt guilty for enjoying their current position way more than he felt he should as a friend. So, he excused himself and stood up, leaving the bathroom and a very confused Matty behind. He was on his way out of the door when he felt a hand slipping into his, holding him back. “Please don’t go”, Matty asked of him in that soft voice of his that would make George go to the end of the world for him. So, he stayed. He turned around and wordlessly went inside again, leaving the party behind once again and dragging Matty with him to the bedroom.

Matty didn’t know why George suddenly wanted to leave, he just knew that he couldn’t let him go, not on his birthday and definitely not like that, without any real explanation of his detached behaviour. He himself was a bit detached from the world sometimes but the last few weeks George took this to a whole new level. Whenever they would hang out, he would just drift off and stare at the walls until Ross, Adam or he brought him back. Maybe he was using too much weed, or maybe it was something else entirely, but now Matty was determined to get to the bottom of George’s weird behaviour.

Hands still tangled together with his best friend, George laid down on Matty’s bed and closed his eyes. He felt the mattress dip slightly, so he knew Matty sat down as well. This would be the perfect time to let go off his hand but he didn’t really want to. Matty however, quickly felt awkward holding George’s hand in that situation, so he let go of it after he sat down and asked him: “What is going on, mate? I feel like you haven’t really been there these past weeks. Where are you? Is it the weed? Like, I don’t know, do you need help?”

George took in Matty’s concerned words and just couldn’t answer anything. All his denials would be a waste of time, because Matty would never believe him if he didn’t give an actual explanation instead. He settled on: “Just thinking ‘bout a lot lately.”

“Yeah? What is it?”, Matty continued asking and George just thought to himself: “Nothing just my stupid feelings for you.” Being still a little bit tipsy from earlier though, he didn’t notice that he said the last part out loud and just realised when he found Matty staring at him baffled.

He scrambled for words to apologise but was left dumbfounded. How do you come back from the mortification of telling your best friend you like them, when you didn’t mean to?

“It’s not what it sounds like”, George said. Matty still couldn’t quite process what had just happened and couldn’t really trust this strange kind of happiness he had felt when George said what he said. But now he wanted to take it all back. “So, you don’t have a crush on me?”, he asked, almost teasingly, and came closer to George who had buried his face in his hands from embarrassment. Tentatively, he touched his friend’s shoulder and let his hand come up to rest against George’s neck.

Feeling Matty touching him, even though he had just made such an embarrassing confession, comforted George and led him to put all of his fears aside and just confess properly: “I do, I just didn’t want it to come out like this. I like you and I kinda wanna kiss you, like, all the damn time, so, yeah…”

The silence that followed was almost unbearable but after a few seconds Matty finally answered: “Good thing I want to kiss you too then!”

They both couldn’t really believe that their feelings were returned, but when their lips finally met in their first kiss, the hunger and want and the unbelievable sweetness of it all said everything that went unsaid and made them believe that it was a reality and not just a really good dream.

Hungry kisses turned to sweet and short pecks and Matty untangled himself from George to look at his best friend, now turned whatever they were. “What does this mean though?”, he asked feeling slightly insecure about their future. “Well, if you want, we could be a thing, like boyfriends”, George answered. “Yeah, I’d like that”, Matty said and kissed him again. Because why waste precious time on conversation when you could be kissing instead.

They continued until they fell asleep on Matty’s bed together. Adam and Ross found them cuddled together later and decided to end the party in Matty’s name and go home themselves as well. After all, the two finally got their shit together and did something about their very obvious attraction to each other, so they deserved to be cut some slack.


End file.
